Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/1004801
26 commercial carrier journal | july 2018 INBRIEF • Hendrickson acquired the U-bolt, pin and screw business segment from the Austrian Frauenthal Group. The acquisition, terms of which were not released, includes a manufacturing facility in Torun, Poland, along with 200 employees who will join Hendrickson Commercial Vehicle Systems Europe. Hendrickson said the acquisition will widen its global product portfolio. • PPG's Commercial Coatings Division launched MeasureColor Mobile, a color-matching app designed to bring thousands of colors to customers' finger- tips, coupled with a small colorimeter to read the target color. The app combines cloud technology with a handheld Bluetooth-enabled scanning device to read a color, interpret the data and send the closest PPG color match to the app on a customer's tablet or smartphone. The customer then has immediate access to thousands of colors in PPG's libraries. • Penske Truck Leasing opened a new facility in western Pennsylvania, offering full-service leasing, truck rental and mainte- nance. The Zelienople location is along the I-79 corridor north of Pittsburgh. • Prestolite Electric/Leece-Neville Heavy Duty Systems' VIN and eCatalog website is designed to allow parts distributors, service writers, counterpeople and professional technicians to look up rotating electric products for heavy-duty applica- tions, including the company's IdlePro and IdlePro Extreme alternators and PowerPro and PowerPro Extreme starters. • VMAC launched an interactive vehicle ap- plication list at vmacair.com. A searchable application database allows customers and dealers to search and filter by system, vehicle model year, chassis, engine and manufacturer to find the appropriate vehi- cle integrated air compressors, multi-pow- er systems and Throttle Commander controls. Drop-down fields allow the user to sort results by model year, make, engine, system type, chassis, VMAC part number, maximum cfm and maximum psi. • Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. delivered its 50,000th chassis to UPS (CCJ Top 250, No. 1). While more than half of the chasses FCCC has delivered to UPS have been either gas- or diesel-powered, the companies also have continued to collaborate on multiple alternative-fuel products. FCCC began its partnership with UPS in 1996. Senate bill would repeal excise tax on truck, trailer purchases A Senate bill would repeal the 12-percent federal excise tax on the sale of heavy-duty trucks and trailers. e tax, originally imposed in 1917 as a 3-percent tax to help pay for World War I, today adds $12,000 to $22,000 to the price of a new heavy-duty truck. "is burdensome tax creates excessive costs that are passed on to truckers, who play an essential role in maintaining our nation's economy," said Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who introduced S. 3052 last month. "I was happy to introduce legislation to repeal it." S. 3052 is similar to the Heavy Truck, Tractor and Trailer Retail Federal Excise Tax Repeal Act introduced to the House by Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) in June 2017. H.R. 2946 has 17 bipartisan cosponsors. "It is the highest excise tax Congress levies on a percentage basis on any prod- uct, including alcohol and tobacco," said Jodie Teuton, chairwoman of the Ameri- can Truck Dealers and vice president of Kenworth of Louisiana and Hino of Baton Rouge. "It's time for Congress to repeal this tax, and we thank Senator Gardner for his leadership on this important issue." In addition to ATD, other supporters of the FET repeal include Baker Com- modities, Bendix Commercial Vehicles, Daimler Trucks North America, Mack Trucks, National Trailer Dealers Association, Navistar, NTEA, Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association, Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association, Truck Renting and Leasing Association, Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association and Volvo Trucks North America. – Lucas Deal Jacobs debuts 1.5 Stroke HPD engine brake system J acobs Vehicle Systems, a manufacturer of heavy-duty diesel engine retarding systems, launched 1.5 Stroke HPD, a variation of the High Power Density engine brake that the company introduced on a demonstration truck in 2016. e company said the new HPD option is engineered to provide heavy vehicles with higher levels of supplemental braking force than traditional compression release braking but with less complexity and cost than its Two-Stroke HPD. As with Two-Stroke HPD, 1.5 Stroke HPD is designed to provide small- and medium-displacement engines with large engine displacement retarding power. By adopting a differ- ent valvetrain and valve-opening strategy than Two-Stroke HPD, 1.5 Stroke HPD has a more conservative technical strategy that will better suit the requirements of some engine hardware, according to the company. "1.5 Stroke HPD is a simpler and more affordable route that will see our customers achieve the same step-change in braking performance as with Two-Stroke HPD if their engine hardware allows for that," said Steve Ernest, vice president of engineering and business development for Jacobs Vehicle Systems. – Jason Cannon Jacobs' 1.5 Stroke HPD engine brake adopts a different valvetrain and valve-opening strategy than its Two-Stroke HPD.